Saturday, June 8, 2013

Central Monitoring System Of India Is Extremely Dangerous And Violates Civil Liberties

This is the Guest Post of Mr. Praveen Dalal,
managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law.
The post outlines
how the Central Monitoring System of India works and why it is
dangerous for civil liberties in India.

Much has been discussed about the Central Monitoring
System of India. For those who are still wondering what it is all
about, the central
Monitoring System (CMS) of India is a Big Brother Project
of Indian Government without any Legal Framework, Procedural
Safeguards and Parliamentary Oversight.

But the crucial question is how would the CMS
Project achieve its task of E-Surveillance
in India? The CMS project could eavesdrop on all incoming,
outgoing and ISD calls, text, messages, etc and the same can be
monitored “At Will and at All Times”.

This would be achieved by passing all forms of
Digital Communications through the Centralised System. Consider it to
be “Refined Form of Men in the Middle (MITM) Attack” that is
capable of knowing everything leaving your Mobile or Computer.

As you have to connect “Through the ISP” for
gaining Internet access, you are passing through the MITM System of
Indian Government that has been Illegally and Unconstitutionally
Established.

ISPs would have no option in this regard as their
Telecom Infrastructure would be passing through the CMS System and
there would be no need to take their assistance every time the Indian
Government wishes to do E-Surveillance or Eavesdropping.

In India there is no requirement to obtain a Court
Warrant to engage in E-Surveillance and Eavesdropping. Even the
lawful
Interception Law in India is also missing. Both the Indian
Telegraph Act, 1885 and Indian Information technology Act, 2000
carries many “Unconstitutional Provisions” and “Both Deserve to
be Repealed”.

In short, the CMS System is an Illegal and
Unconstitutional MITM System that does not require any Court Warrant
or Permission to engage in E-Surveillance. CMS Project is another
Unconstitutional Project like Aadhaar
that has been imposed upon Indian Citizens. The Aadhaar Project has
already been questioned
in many Indian Courts and CMS Project would be next in line.